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Post by ruthadewale on Sept 17, 2011 11:40:21 GMT -6
On her lunch break Ruth queued up in the hospital cafeteria, standing on her toes to see what was on the menu for the day as she moved up the line. "Hi Colin," she said to the cafeteria worker as she approached -- since becoming pregnant, Ruth had grown especially friendly (for her) with the sorts of people who stood between her mouth and food. Leaning practically her whole body against the glass, she twisted her mouth around and started to point at a few things before sighing. "Fuck it, give me everything. With a side of everything. And... cake."
Finally taking her tray to an empty table, Ruth closed her eyes, exhaled deeply and tried to decompress from her stressful morning before gearing up for the rest of the day.
(ooc: Anyone!)
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Post by Rory King on Sept 17, 2011 15:14:08 GMT -6
Rory was having a very trying day, 99.9% of which was self-inflicted. He'd got hardly any sleep the night previous due to being involved in a raid in World of Warcraft - even though he had a twelve hour shift starting at 7, he'd decided WoW was more important. He had his priorities sorted, clearly. Rubbing his eyes to clear away some of the sleep still in there he shuffled along the queue and grabbed himself a very strong coffee and a muffin. Having spotted a despondent looking colleague a few people in front of him he impulsively added a hot chocolate to his order and tentatively headed over to where she was sat.
It was because someone else looked just as 'meh' as he did at that very moment that his naturally caring side overruled his natural 'be cautious around Ruth' instinct. (Mostly it was just because Rory was a wimp with conversing with most people, especially women.) Sliding a cup of hot chocolate onto the table beside her he smiled in a friendly manner as she looked up at the person who'd approached, "You just look like you could use some chocolate," he said in explanation with an easy shrug. "Having a hard shift?" Rory asked as a way of greeting - it was one of the most commonly heard in Mungo's, it had to be said.
((ooc: Hope Rory is okay. Have Ruth tell him to beat it if not :) ))
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Post by ruthadewale on Sept 17, 2011 16:53:41 GMT -6
"Thanks," Ruth muttered as she slid the hot chocolate towards herself. She generally disliked special treatment, or letting anyone know when she was struggling, but she had a soft spot for Rory. It was mostly because they'd come up as trainees together, and even though he was a guy who initially wanted to be a Healer, he'd never acted like being a nurse was somehow 'beneath' him. She still felt he needed to sort out his girl issues, though. "If it were ever easy, it wouldn't be called nursing, would it?" Ruth smiled a bit out of the corner of her mouth and pushed a plate of chips at Rory: Colin had, as always, dished out more food than even Ruth could consume.
"I puked in the shower today. Again. Twice," she grumbled, shaking her head. "What's got you looking like warmed over shit, Ror? Hot date last night?"
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Post by Rory King on Sept 17, 2011 17:37:31 GMT -6
"No problem," Rory waved off her thanks casually, knowing Ruth hated being pandered to or fussed around, as he took this as an invitation that it was alright to sit down opposite. "Aaah touché! Now if only the Healers would see that about our work too," he grumbled somewhat - well as grumbling as Rory could ever get as his mellow/pushover, just-go-along-with-it self. His calling well and truly had been nursing all along; he liked chatting to old Mrs Hibbett while she did her knitting and persuading paranoid Mr Phillips to let the Healer examine him. Sometimes he just wished their invaluable role in Mungo's would be more appreciated. Leaning forward on the table he tore off a piece of muffin and looked at it despondently before he then chewed it thoughtfully as he listened to her. That was when he nearly choked as she grumbled about throwing up in the shower. Spluttering somewhat he shook his head as he cleared his throat, "Sorry... that's... well, I'm not going to lie Ruth, that's got to be a low point?" he suggested, his mouth twisted into a concerned frown, "I mean... I've only ever thrown up in the shower once and it wasn't dignified in the slightest. Obviously it wasn't because of the miracle that is pregnancy... it was self-inflicted indulgence in booze. I swore off drinking copious alcohol that night." He remembered the event with a shudder as he glanced down into the black coffee.
His brow furrowing perceptibly at her question he made a show of looking behind him and then acted surprised, "Oh, you're talking to me still? Hot date... hmmm well if you count her being pixelised as hot then..." he trailed off with a sigh, "No, it's part of the curse of being extremely susceptible to getting hooked on computer games. And wanting to please everyone, even random people on the Internet." Tearing another piece of muffin off he smiled slightly, "But it's good to know I look like shit, cheers Adewale, you sure know how to make a bloke feel good about himself!" He rested his chin in his hand then and leaned against the table whilst looking over at her, "Should I lie if people ask me about stuff like that, say I'm dating someone or something?" he asked conversationally.
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Post by ruthadewale on Sept 17, 2011 22:17:12 GMT -6
"Damn straight," Ruth concurred, holding her arm out to high-five Rory. She then picked up a kebab, and after some deliberation went with her immediate instinct to dip it in chocolate icing. Shrugging nonchalantly at Rory's reaction to her tales of vomit and woe, Ruth said sarcastically, "Yeah, I'm a sacred fucking vessel, dude. My throwing up is dignified as shit."
She squinted for a few seconds before she realised what Rory was on about. "Oh, that fantasy elf thing? Ha, first I thought your TV was picking up scrambled porn. Jesus." She then sipped her hot chocolate and shook her head. "Screw pleasing people. Tell your guild to put on their big boy chainmail and save the ice lair princess or whatever themselves, you know?" It was fairly obvious that she hadn't really... absorbed anything Rory told her about World of Warcraft. "Sorry. But we all look like shit, King. It comes with the sleep-deprived territory."
Ruth pushed her lunch around the plate and looked up thoughtfully. "I don't know, do you want to be dating someone? Cos you need to put yourself out there. You're a good-looking guy, people like you, maybe you'll get rejected but in a hundred years we'll all be dead, so who cares?"
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Post by Rory King on Sept 18, 2011 9:31:59 GMT -6
"Hell yes," Rory agreed, high-fiving Ruth with a broad grin. The grin faded slightly as he noted her eating habits - wow, people weren't making up the 'weird food cravings during pregnancy' thing at all. Then again, if you liked kebabs and you liked chocolate... why not combine the two of them? You were bound to like the result, surely? "Throwing up is never dignified I suppose," he admitted, "But at least with pregnancy it's one of the unfortunate side effects, I have no excuse for it... except for being an idiot and letting people give me drinks that I really didn't want. Hmm I should probably work on that 'standing up to people' thing..." he trailed off thoughtfully. He really ought to though.
Smiling in amusement then at Ruth's take on World of Warcraft he nodded, " 'Fantasy elf thing'... well close enough, yeah. So not porn, not even close to porn." Blowing the hot coffee softly to cool it he took a careful sip and shook his head, "Sure you don't want to tell them for me?" he asked, "You'd do a pretty good job of telling them to back the hell off because normal people actually need sleep. I'm a geek, Ruth, but I'm just not the uber-geek that these people are. My body isn't cut out for all-night WoW sessions and this job isn't exactly the best thing to hold if you are so inclined towards all-nighters." He rested his coffee cup on the table once more and wrapped his hands loosely around it for the warmth, "Well, that's reassuring, at least I'm not alone in this 'looking like shit' thing," Rory conceded. He really would take whatever he could get when it came to how he looked, he considered himself average to a tee so any other ratings either way were just interesting.
Considering Ruth's question for a moment, "I don't know really... I have my job, my home, my friends, family, cat... I'm pretty content with how my life is at the moment. I'm not saying it would be terrible to be dating, of course not, but uh... you know me, I'm not one to uh... 'aim for the stars' as I usually fall a little short of that," he shrugged easily at this. That small statement encapsulated him to a tee... it also went some way to explaining why he lacked ambition and any kind of drive to 'put himself out there'. "Buuuuut apparently I'm no longer allowed to watch Blackadder marathons in my flat with just my cat for company. Even if that's what makes me happy." Unclasping one hand from the cup to tear off another piece of muffin, "Thanks all the same... it's nice to know I'm not hideous and/or disgusting to be with," he said this light heartedly but he truly did appreciate her being nice to him like that. "I think practically the whole hospital staff know I daren't ask out who I really want to... everyone except her apparently. I mean... it's over twenty years that I've known her now, it'd seem a bit weird to suddenly say 'hey, so it turns out, that I actually really fancy you and kind of always have done... so do you wanna go out sometime or what?'."
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Post by ruthadewale on Sept 19, 2011 21:19:00 GMT -6
As Rory told her about his computer games, Ruth gestured at him with her fork and said, "You tell 'em that next time, okay? It'll be good practise for you. You don't even have to see their faces. Much as I want to help you, dude, I don't actually go around telling people off for funsies."
"No one's saying you can't do what makes you happy, man. And if they are saying that, they can fuck right off. I like to stay in and read... Chris happens to be there, but even he knows to piss off when I'm getting my murder mystery on." Ruth kept talking as she ate, trying to consolidate her precious break time. "Just, you know, if you actually want something different, it's not gonna happen by magic. So with Liv, you have a choice to tell her or move on with your life, but promise me you're not going to pine forever and make yourself miserable, yeah? If it helps... Chris was and is my best friend. And I don't mean that in some wanky wedding toast way, I mean that he's the first person who didn't annoy the ever-loving shit out of me, and that's what you build a fucking relationship on."
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Post by Rory King on Sept 20, 2011 14:25:02 GMT -6
((ooc: Ugh I had to re-write this 3 times cos my dad can't just leave tabs alone on the computer so sorry if it's a bit blah.))
"People do say that though. If I wish to use my free time to watch TV, hang out with my cat and cook, I don't see what's wrong with that," Rory shrugged easily, a smile lifting the corner of his mouth as she spoke of reading. "Woah, hey, I know one thing about women and that is you never interrupt them reading a murder mystery," he agreed in a deadly serious tone with a solemn nod of his head. He wasn't even remotely surprised that she knew he'd meant Olivia. "Is me imagining us finally getting together, then getting married with her looking so incredibly beautiful in a gorgeous white dress and all out friends celebrating, and then moving into this really cute cottage in a typical little English village and then me falling to pieces even though I swore I was gonna be cool when she tells me she's pregnant what you would consider 'pining and making myself miserable'?" he asked, in a light hearted manner though, as he was fully aware of how borderline creepy such a complex narrative was. In his defence, he'd had 20+ years of being around Olivia to construct said storyline in his imagination.
"It's not as though I haven't tried to stop it. I've dated... there was Lucy, she was my proper girlfriend and everything... in a kind of inseperable, go out to dinner, leave her stuff at mine and vice versa, meet the other parents kind of way. But she wasn't Liv," Rory said with a slight sigh, "And then I realised that I kept comparing women to Livvie and, of course, that wasn't fair, it's so selfish and unfair to them... so I stopped dating people that seriously because it'd always come back to that, to her." Looking thoughtful for a moment he chuckled, shaking his head at himself slightly, "You know, when we were teenagers, Livvie thought I was gay because she'd never seen me pay any attention to girls. The penny didn't drop, and still hasn't I don't think, that I've spent the last twenty years of my life paying attention to only one girl, the best girl as far as I'm concerned."
Breaking off for a moment to take a large sip of coffee he inhaled the aroma blissfully before adding, "Oh and by the way, before you say it, I am entirely aware of how pathetic that makes me," Rory poked fun at himself with a tight smile at Ruth. He knew she wasn't exactly big on the touchy-feely, mushy crap like how he felt about Olivia and, to be honest, he just appreciated her not saying 'just shut the fuck up Rory'.
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Post by ruthadewale on Sept 21, 2011 16:59:40 GMT -6
"Dude, cooking will snag you a lady," Ruth told Rory (more sincerely, perhaps, than anything she'd ever said to him before). She then gave him the Oh, Rory face that often came up in conversations between them and shook her head. To be fair, she was one half of a couple who invited no one to their wedding and acknowledged getting pregnant with a shared high-five. "Wow. Okay. As your friend, I'm going to go ahead and suggest that you never say that out loud ever again, mmkay?"
"She thought that? Really? Guess she didn't notice your dress sense either eh?" Ruth asked with a playful elbow jab, ribbing on him a bit because it made the whole conversation somewhat easier on her. "Look, if I were Jules, I'd tell you to sleep with her and get it over with, but frankly it doesn't affect me either way, you know? I just don't wanna look across the hospital bay and see that moony kicked puppy face. You're killin' me over here," she said lightly, but with a slight sigh because she really did care about him. "Maybe back off a little? Pfft, I don't fucking know."
She then held up her fork in what might come across as a slightly threatening manner and asked, "You swear you're happy?"
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Post by Rory King on Sept 22, 2011 12:10:29 GMT -6
"Yeah, so I've been told," Rory said with a small smile, "I can bake pretty bloody awesome cakes as well as cook proper meals... should I broadcast this more in order to 'snag a lady'?" he asked in a faux sincere tone as he eyed her seriously. He looked away from her though as the 'Oh, Rory' face made an appearance; he hated prompting that face, it usually meant he'd shared something potentially embarrassing but mostly just a little bit pathetic. "Mm... hey, here's a wacky thought, how about we pretend I didn't say it out loud at all to make me appear less creepy?" he suggested hopefully with a tight smile. "Then I'll just keep that one shtum, just me and my own deluded mind shall know of it, as it ought to be."
Nodding slowly he sighed, "Yeah, I know, clearly a crazy assumption..." he trailed off as he couldn't help but laugh good naturedly when Ruth teased him playfully about his dress sense. She was right, of course, that he had very little sense of fashion; it didn't interest him in the slightest, he wore what he liked which meant he lived in jeans and hoodies most of the time. "But you're not Jules, thankfully," Rory pointed out with a warm smile, "I'm not so big on that suggestion, to be honest, and I appreciate your stance on it because, really, there are only so many times I can hear someone exasperatedly say 'Ror, just fuck her alright?!' before I just die of embarrassment." Despite this his smile grew as she talked of his 'moony kicked puppy face', "I'm sorry, I'll try to make an effort not to resemble a kicked puppy, okay? I swear."
"I am happy!" he exclaimed, perhaps a little too loudly and defensively as quite a few of their colleagues sat around them turned to stare confusedly at him. "I swear, I'm fine... completely fine. I mean, I could probably do with just crashing into bed right now and sleeping for a week... oh and I'd quite like to discover that The Doctor is real... and I wouldn't say no to a 'Good Omens' film being made... but, yeah, I'm perfectly content with... everything," he gestured vaguely around himself with a big grin as though to prove he was completely fine. "You're not going to stab me to death with a fork are you?" Rory asked jokingly with his hands held up in defence.
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Post by ruthadewale on Sept 23, 2011 15:14:12 GMT -6
"You should see the way women react to my husband. He brings out a lamb curry or a jerk chicken or something and they're practically coming, it's sick," Ruth laughed. To be honest, she was cool with other women hitting on Chris (and, you know, feeling up on his biceps and whatnot) because it gave him an ego boost and she didn't have to work as hard. Also: hilarious. "Ha. If I said everything that passed through my mind, I'd be locked up right now. We all would."
"Well, Ror, you know my philosophy," she said while stabbing at a carrot, "Make your own decisions, take responsibility, own your shit and don't complain. That's it."
"I wanna bang Idris Elba, paint my bathroom and get paid a Healer's salary... we all have dreams eh?" She grinned wryly at Rory and dropped her fork. "Come on, stab you with a fork? Does that sound like something I would do? Really? . . . When I have plenty of scalpels at my disposal?"
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Post by Rory King on Sept 23, 2011 16:03:06 GMT -6
With a laugh, Rory shook his head at her description of women and their reaction to her husband's food, "I sort of have the feeling Chris' dishes are more... chef-y than mine ever could be. But I suppose it's never a bad thing to have such a reaction to your food," he shrugged casually. "I have my signature dishes though to be fair... oh and I make a pretty mean roast dinner," he nodded seriously, "You'd think that's what every woman would love, yeah?" Looking down at the contents of his coffee cup, the corner of his mouth twitched into a smile, "That's probably true. So, if nothing else, it's good to know that I'm not alone in having borderline-psychotic thoughts. I'll keep them well and truly to myself from now on."
"I like your philosophy, it's blunt and to the point, no room for 'oh on the one hand this, on the other this'..." he trailed off and then looked across at her with a genuinely warm smile, "Thanks, Ruth. Believe it or not, it helps a lot."
As she talked of her own little hopes Rory chewed thoughtfully on the final bits of the muffin. "DCI Luther, really?" he asked with raised eyebrows before, "Or are you thinking Idris Elba in a more... Stringer Bell way? Or not really that fussy about what personality he's working?" he continued in a faux-serious manner but then broke out into his usual 'Rory grin'. "The 'get paid a Healer's salary' thing though? Isn't going to happen in a million years... unless we all strike. Maybe then people would realise how vital the nursing aspect of a hospital is," he shrugged coolly. Meeting her gaze levelly then, he squinted whilst considering whether she'd choose a fork or scalpel as her weapon, before dropping his hands, "Fair enough, I'm clearly being overly paranoid about the possibility of you having well-veiled violent tendencies."
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Post by ruthadewale on Sept 24, 2011 12:58:53 GMT -6
"No problem, King," Ruth said, giving him a light punch on the shoulder. "Promise you won't let me turn soft when all the hormones and crap kick in? I can handle being a bloated whale, but I'm not about to get all weepy and sentimental," she said light-heartedly even though it was a real concern for her: her body was doing weird things that she couldn't control and she did not like it one bit.
"Luther, natch. Do I look like I have the time or mental energy to watch The Wire, man? That shit is dense." Finally full from the wide mix of food she had procured, Ruth pushed some uneaten chips and an apple at Rory. "Ha. Not at a point in my life where striking is really an option, dude, but I admire the passion. Good on you."
Ruth grinned at Rory then, "Right. Clearly neither of us are harbouring creepy fantasies. Glad we've got that sorted." She made a dusting motion with her hands before spotting someone out of the corner of her eye and cringing. "Ooooh no. No-personal-space Healer, three o'clock. Don't make eye contact. Don't look like you want to have a conversation."
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Post by Rory King on Sept 25, 2011 17:27:06 GMT -6
His smile broadened as she punched him lightly in the shoulder - this 'chummy' gesture, he felt, was the natural way to ease any awkward-but-mushy sincerity in a conversation. "Of course I won't, Ruth, I wouldn't just stand idyly by and let you do that to yourself!" Rory exclaimed as if scandalised by such a suggestion. "The day I see you weepy and sentimental is the day the world stops making sense to me, I like your brutally honest and snarky self," he shrugged simply. That really was that on the matter as far as he was concerned.
"Wouldn't know, 'The Wire' is one of the few things I've never quite gotten into... it's a bit like 'The West Wing', I always think I should watch it but, mate, that stuff looks tiring to marathon," Rory commented, "I'm sure I'd be able to manage it if I just stopped investing so heavily in US comedy shows that are still airing but, after a soul-destroyingly emotional day on the ward, sometimes all I need is hilarious capers." Looking at the chips and apple Ruth had pushed over to him he smiled, "Thanks... aww see, you're becoming maternal, you're looking after my nutritional needs," he teased lightly with a chuckle but picked up the apple and tossed it thoughtfully from hand to hand as he considered striking. "I couldn't do it to the hospital, mind you, and I'm pretty sure my conscience wouldn't let me strike. I just think it's a shame that everyone, myself included initially, just goes 'omg I want to be a Healer'... they don't think for a second that there might be other important roles in Mungo's. It's not something many are likely to say but... in a weird way... I'm glad I'm so utterly crap under exam-pressure that I failed every written test given to me as a trainee Healer. They liked me enough to take pity and keep me on and I found I fit into nursing a lot better," he mused, looking down at the apple momentarily before taking a bite out of it.
Through a mouthful of apple, "Clearly... not at all... not even for a second," Rory agreed with a too-enthusiastic nod. Swallowing he found himself frowning as Ruth cringed, "What? Which one?" he asked, doing the precise wrong thing and looking over to see the Healer in question who then met, and held, Rory's gaze. His eyes widening, Rory looked hastily away and down at the table instead, "Oh crap, I'm sorry," he apologised with a wince, "Please tell me she's not coming over here."
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